Ice Found on Mercury

NASA's Messenger spacecraft has discovered evidence of abundant surface water ice on Mercury located in its permanently shadowed polar regions.

Hints of Water Ice on Mercury

Data from NASA's Messenger spacecraft have identified craters at Mercury's poles that are permanently in shadow, creating so-called "cold traps" that strongly reflect radar signals, a characteristic of water ice even on a world with surface temperatures exceeding 400 C.

Mercury Once "Dynamic World"

Data from NASA's Messenger spacecraft show that impact craters on the surface of Mercury have signs of distortion by a geological process after impact, revealing along with other data that the planet has been unusually dynamic for a very long time.

Mercury Weirder than Expected

The first major release of data from NASA's MESSENGER probe in orbit around Mercury have caused scientists to question many theories about this planet's formation, including an unknown type of landform, volatile elements long thought to have been baked out, surface chemistry and its magnetic field.

First Mercury Photos

NASA's Messenger spacecraft has successfully entered orbit around Mercury and has begun sending back the first images in almost four decades, with a mission to map the entire surface of the planet for the first time.

Comet-Like Mercury

The two satellites of NASA's STEREO mission have visually captured a comet-like tail of gases escaping into the solar wind behind the planet Mercury opposite the Sun that is many hundreds of times the size of the planet itself.

"Power Surges" on Mercury

The MESSENGER spacecraft has detected tremendous "power surges" in the magnetic tail of Mercury as it passed the planet, periodically building up strength by 200% in a process called tail loading and then dissipating that energy within minutes.

Iron on Mercury

NASA's Messenger probe has revealed much greater levels of iron and titanium on the planet Mercury than previously estimated, raising further questions about that planet's formation.